Parashat Kedoshim — Holy ones (you shall be holy)
קְדֹשִׁים
Kedoshim (קְדֹשִׁים) means "holy ones (you shall be holy)" — taken, as every parashah name is, from the portion's opening words in the Hebrew.
The Readings
Torah Leviticus 19:1-20:27 Read →
Haftarah Ezekiel 22:1-19 Read →
B'rit Chadashah 1 John 4:7-21 Read →
What Happens in Kedoshim
Speak to all the congregation of the children of Yisrael — not to priests only, but to everyone — and say to them: you shall be holy, for I YHVH your God am holy. Kedoshim is holiness with its sleeves rolled up, and it begins at home and at rest: every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall keep My Shabbats. From there it moves straight into the field: when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings... you shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger. Then the marketplace and the courtroom: no stealing, no dealing falsely, no lying to one another, no swearing falsely by My name; the wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning; you shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God.
Justice must be blind in the right way: you shall do no unrighteousness in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty — sentimentality and servility are both corruptions. No talebearing among the people, no standing idly by the blood of your neighbor. And then the portion reaches its summit, the verse Yeshua called the second greatest commandment: you shall not hate your brother in your heart; you shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am YHVH. Honest rebuke and released grudges are what neighbor-love is made of — and the command's signature, I am YHVH, stamps it as God's own character, not mere social advice.
The statutes then range wide, guarding Israel's distinctness: no mixtures of cattle, seed, or fabric; the orchard's first three years uncircumcised and the fourth year's fruit holy to YHVH; no eating with the blood, no divination or soothsaying, no cuttings for the dead, no prostituting a daughter; and keep My Shabbats and reverence My sanctuary. Rise before the gray head, and honor the face of the old man. Then the command that stretches neighbor-love past every border: the stranger who dwells with you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. Honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah and hin — for I am YHVH your God, who brought you out of Egypt. The closing chapter sets penalties for Molech worship, mediums, and the forbidden relations, and gathers everything into the covenant's great separation: you shall be holy to Me, for I YHVH am holy, and have set you apart from the peoples, that you should be Mine.
Main Themes
Be holy, for I am holy — imitation of God Love your neighbor as yourself Holiness in fields, wages, courts, and scales The stranger loved as the native-born Separated from the peoples to belong to YHVH
Key Events
· The call to congregational holiness
· The gleaning laws for the poor and stranger
· Justice commands: wages, courts, honest speech
· Love your neighbor as yourself
· The prohibitions of occult practice
· Honest weights; the land that vomits out defilement
Key People
Moshe The whole congregation of Yisrael
Key Verses
Leviticus 19:2 Read →
““Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘You shall be holy; for I, the LORD your God, am holy.”
Leviticus 19:18 Read →
““‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people; but you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.”
Leviticus 19:34 Read →
“The stranger who lives as a foreigner with you shall be to you as the native-born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you lived as foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”
All 54 Torah portions → · Open the Torah Portion tool in Hebrew Explorer